US-Listed ETFs Sorted by Asset Class and Year-to-Date Return

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benchmark that tracks debt from Brazil,
Chile, Egypt and Hungary. The fund will use
a representative sampling strategy rather
than replicate the credits in the index.
The competing WisdomTree Emerging
Markets Local Debt ETF (NYSE Arca: ELD)
had $1.12 billion in assets under management
as of Oct. 18, while Van Eck’s Market
Vectors Emerging Markets Local Currency
Bond ETF (NYSE Arca: EMLC) had
$504 million, according to data compiled
by IndexUniverse. Both were rolled out a
bit more than a year ago.
Schwab Debuts
Dividend ETF
In October, Charles Schwab rolled out a
high-dividend ETF that will undercut the
price on two dividend-focused ETFs from
Vanguard Group.
The Schwab US Dividend Equity ETF
(NYSE Arca: SCHD) comes with an expense
ratio of 0.18 percent, just below the
0.18 percent cost of both the Vanguard
High Dividend Yield Index ETF (NYSE
Arca: VYM) and the Vanguard Dividend
Appreciation ETF (NYSE Arca: VIG).
Dividend-focused investments loom
largely in an investment universe fraught
with volatility. Getting a reliable payout
is a welcome option among investors
tired out by the market’s gyrations
and frustrated by low yields on many
bond investments.
Schwab said its dividend-focused
ETF, which will choose companies that
consistently pay dividends and have
strong “financial ratios” relative to their
peers, is based on the Dow Jones U.S.
Dividend 100 Index. That benchmark is
a subset, excluding REITs, of the Dow
Jones U.S. Broad Market Index, according
to regulatory filings.
AdvisorShares Launches
ETF With TrimTabs
AdvisorShares launched an ETF in October,
with TrimTabs as advisor. The AdvisorShares
TrimTabs Float Shrink ETF
(NYSE Arca: TTFS) seeks to beat the Russell
3000 Index by picking stocks with
liquidity and fundamental characteristics
that historically have superior long-term
performance, according to information
on AdvisorShares’ website.
TTFS recalls some of the passive strategies
based on enhanced beta that screen
securities for variables such as low beta
or volatility, only in this case the security
selection will be based on research that
focuses on stock prices as a function of
supply and demand rather than value.
The advisor, TrimTabs Asset Management,
is a unit of TrimTabs Investment
Research. The new ETF comes with an annual
expense ratio of 0.99 percent.
Russell Plans
6 Active US Equity ETFs
Russell Investments filed regulatory paperwork
with the SEC in October to market
six actively managed ETFs that target
U.S. equities by size and style.
The six funds are:
• Russell Large Cap ETF
• Russell Large Cap Growth ETF
• Russell Large Cap Value ETF
• Russell All Cap ETF
• Russell Mid Cap ETF
• Russell Small Cap ETF
The lead portfolio manager for all six
funds is Robert Kuharic, who has been
in various money management activities
at Russell since 2005. The funds will also
make use of a multimanager approach.
The additional managers will be unaffiliated
and given the discretion to utilize
a variety of investing styles, including
ones focusing on growth, value and/or
market-oriented, according to the filing.
UBS Launches
2X Cloud Computing ETN
UBS released to market a double-exposure
exchange-traded note targeting the
world of cloud computing, bringing it
into competition with a so-far successful
single-exposure ETF that First Trust
brought to market during the summer.
The ETRACS Monthly 2xLeveraged ISE
Cloud Computing TR Index ETN due October
4, 2041 (NYSE Arca: LSKY) seeks to
match the performance of the ISE Cloud
Computing Index, the same benchmark
that First Trust’s “SKYY” is based on. Its
exposure is compounded monthly.
Cloud computing refers to computer
users accessing many different servers to
meet their needs, as opposed to using
centralized computing resources. The
UBS ETN comes with an annual expense
ratio of 0.60 percent, the same as SKYY’s.
Russell Launches
3 Int’l Factor-Based ETFs
Russell Investments last month launched
three non-U.S. international “factorbased”
ETFs. The three funds, which
all have net annual expense ratios of
0.25 percent, are:
• Russell Developed ex-U.S. Low Beta ETF
(NYSE Arca: XLBT)
• Russell Developed ex-U.S. Low Volatility
ETF (NYSE Arca: XLVO)
• Russell Development ex-U.S. High Momentum
ETF (NYSE Arca: XHMO)
All three ETFs are “intelligent beta”
products that go beyond the plain-vanilla
market-cap-weighted funds that dominate
the industry. Such smart beta products
cherry-pick securities with certain
characteristics with a view to managing
risk the way an active manager might,
only with rules-based indexes instead.
And as is common with U.S. ETFs that
track foreign stocks, some of the assets
in the Russell ETFs are likely to be in the
form of depositary receipts, which offer
greater liquidity, but can also introduce
larger tracking errors. Russell has said the
tracking error on the ETFs isn’t likely to be
more than 5 percent.
Direxion Sets Reverse
Split On 6 ETFs
Direxion planned reverse share splits on
six of its ETFs applying to shareholders
of record after the Nov. 9 market close.
Reverse splits are designed to raise pershare
prices on each of the securities.
Five will be 1-for-5 reverse splits, Direxion
said in a press release. Those affected
securities are:
• Direxion Daily Real Estate Bear 3x
Shares (NYSE Arca: DRV)
• Direxion Daily Emerging Markets Bull
3x Shares (NYSE Arca: EDC)
• Direxion Daily Financial Bull 3x Shares
(NYSE Arca: FAS)
• Direxion Daily Latin America Bull 3x
Shares (NYSE Arca: LBJ)
• Direxion Daly 20+ Treasury Bear 3x
Shares (NYSE Arca: TMV)
The sixth will be a 1-for-3 reverse split,
the company said. That ETF is:
• Direxion Daily Russia Bull 3x Shares
(NYSE Arca: RUSL)
Each of the ETFs will be offered on a postsplit
basis on Nov. 10, Direxion said.
4 ETFR • December 2011